Of Fairy Tales
by frozenhikki
Summary: Ruby knew better than to believe in fairy tales. But if monsters were real, so too must be heroes. As well as happy endings. Contains White Rose, among other things.


„_Who are you?" spoke the little princess as she sat on her frozen throne. _

_She felt weak, for she had not eaten in days. Nor did any words leave her lips, as they would have not reached anyone's ears beyond her lonely prison of ice. But the little princess couldn't leave. She mustn't, so she didn't. She needed to wait._

_„I am the prince." the man answered. He was tall and carried himself with elegance. The warm light of his torch illuminated his face._

_It was the first light the little princess had seen in a long time, so it hurt in her eyes, burnt her. It was too bright, as was the prince. Though she couldn't look away, so pretty was the prince. He was the most handsome in all the lands. His lips were formed into a kind smile. He was dressed only in the finest clothing, but for all the money he possessed a dirty red cloak hung over his shoulders. It suited him well, for it made him look majestic and strong._

_„My prince?" whispered the little princess. Every word that escaped her dry throat hurt her. She had never dared to wonder why she had been in this prison, why she had been sitting on this throne that never melted or why she was waiting and for what._

_"Yes, my princess. You have been waiting for me, haven't you?" The prince spoke in a raspy deep voice, which was sweet as the nectar of a budding flower. The flames of his torch grew yet even bigger, the light reflecting on the ice walls, wrapping her prison in a soothing orange. He laid the torch on the ground, yet the ice didn't douse the flames._

"_I am here to safe you, my princess." the prince had said before taking off his thick red cloak. Still smiling he approached the little princess with it. She sunk even deeper into her throne, afraid of the prince, for never had someone dared to come close to her. She was shaking not because of her frozen bones but fear that held her in it's chilling grasp. _

_"I must not leave!" she exclaimed. Her voice echoed in the small cell. She mustn't leave. She was to never leave this place, for she was the princess. As it was her fate to wait forever, for nobody would ever come._

_"And why mustn't you leave, my princess?"_

_"Because..." The little princess thought long and hard until her head started to hurt. She was the princess but why was it the princess' fate to be alone. "I do not know..." she mumbled._

_The prince smiled and with fingers light as feathers he gently wrapped the cloak around her frail body. The tattered cloak with rips and tears looked heavy and thick but as kindly draped around her the princess felt warm for the first time. The lingering warmth of the prince, the faint smell of roses, soothed the ever present pain in her chest._

_"Where are we going?" the little princess asked._

_"Do not worry. We are going somewhere warm." answered the prince, as he carefully lifted the princess into his arms, cradeling her like a newborn child. Soon she felt her eyelids grow heavy and her mind drowsy as they left the icy prison behind. Listening to the gentle humming of the prince the little princess had to suppress a yawn. Hunger and thirst forgotten as she was filled with bliss for some had finally had come._

_Still covered in the ragged cloak of the prince she fell asleep._

_._

"Don't you think it's time to wake up?"

Yang said as she sat down beside the large bed with white linen, white blanket and white pillows. The frail figure, barely sunk in the mattress, laid still, soft breaths escaping her lips, her chest raising and falling in a slow rhythm. The girl tightly wrapped into her blanked almost vanished, as her skin pale as chalk and her hair pure as snow barely lifted her from the sterile white scenery. Her lips once rosy were now dull. The blue bruises the only real color that tarnished the girl.

Knowing she wouldn't answer Yang sighed. Dark rings under her eyes and a cheap can of energy drink in her hand she slouched deep into the tiny plastic chair. She stretched her legs, the pain in her back making her groan. Sleep had been rare the past few weeks. Too much had happened, too much was happening. Too much Yang had no control over.

"I know sleeping beauty and stuff, but you made us wait long enough." Unlike her sister she so far had never spoken to the sleeping girl in the bed. She had felt silly, like speaking to a brick wall, but as the days had gone by Yang didn't know to help herself. Not hoping that the girl would ever answer but just to speak her mind, free herself from the heavy weight of her own thoughts, Yang had begun to talk.

"It's rather selfish, don't you think so, Weiss?"

Of course, the girl in the bed did not answer.

"Well, you always had been a entitlted little brat, so no surprise there." Yang closed her eyes and put the empty can on the little nightstand. It was almost empty, except for a little vase with flowers someone had brought. Probably someone from Team JNPR as they had been here shortly before Yang arrived. Yang saw little use in the flowers, as it didn't help much against the suffocating atmosphere of the room, nor would they make it any friendlier.

"It's rather stuffy in here, you don't mind if I open a window?" With a groan Yang dragged herself out of the chair. Lifting her feet barely from the ground she made it to the window. Sluggishly looking over her shoulder she let out a small laugh.

"Well, of course you don't. I could probably lit the whole hospital on fire and you wouldn't blink."  
Yang was frustrated. There was nothing she could do about Weiss, sometimes she wondered why she even came to visit the girl every day. It wasn't like they had been close friends or anything. In the end though Yang knew that she cared for her, they had been teammates for almost a year now. Never had they been really chummy with each other but they would banter and argue. Now, there was no banter, actually there wasn't much left going on at Team RWBY at all.

"Blake is still nowhere to be found."  
Yang hung her shoulders as she dropped back on her chair. The girl had been gone since Weiss had fallen asleep. After the doctors had told them that there was nothing wrong with Weiss, at least physically that made her loose conscious, Blake had vanished. The bruises and cuts she had suffered, the broken rips and arm she endured would all heal with time. The nutrients that ran through little needles and tubes kept her alive but how long would the princess rest?

Her arms looked like twigs and Yang was sure she could just snap them in half. She was too thin, way too thin. It made Yang feel sick, so sick that she could barely look at her. So she continued to stare at the white wall or the little monitor that confirmed that Weiss was indeed alive.

"I think she blames herself."

Blake certainly did, who wouldn't? Yang still remembered how they had carried Weiss back to Beacon. How Ruby had carried her, too be exact, as she hadn't allowed neither Yang or Blake to even touch the girl in her arms. Weiss had looked so tiny, wrapped in Ruby's cloak. Her sister's grip left faint bruises on the girl. She lashed out on everyone who dared to step too close, much less hinder them. Desperately she clung to the girl in her arms. For Yang it was clear Ruby had not meant anything she said that night. She hoped Blake did too.

"It would help if you would get out of this stupid bed, you know?"

Another sigh followed. What was she even doing here? She should be outside, searching the streets for her partner. Yet she felt like she had an obligation to check on her teammate. Every night she would let Team JNPR watch over the girl and roam the darkest alley and deepest shadows she could to finder her partner.

"Not even for Ruby?"

Yang was begging a girl who was still peacefully slumbering, blissfully unaware what was happening around her. It was silly but what was Yang to do? Everything was falling apart. She tried her best to keep it together but the strings to do so slipped through her fingers.

She looked over the other side of the bed. A red cloak hung over an empty chair. So when Weiss would wake, she would be less scared. Yang didn't think it was necessary as they always had someone watching over the girl. But Ruby had insisted and would have refused to leave the girls room otherwise. Ruby probably blamed herself, as well.

"I don't know what to do with her..."

She had tried talking to Ruby, but the girl would just brush it off. Saying she was alright, that they should worry about Weiss, that there was nothing wrong. Yang was watching her little sister crumble right in front of her and she couldn't do jack about. After some begging she had convinced Ruby to go to classes, just so she would get her mind of all this bullshit for a little while. But with each day Weiss didn't wake up, Yang lost grasp of Ruby.

"Seriously!" In a flash of anger Yang shot up and kicked the bed. Not that Weiss cared. Not that she would wake up. Not like it mattered. The throbbing pain in her foot didn't matter either. Nothing really did. Yang hated this. She sunk back into her chair.

"I know we never really were friends..." She wasn't good at this, at not having control, being helpless, no one really was ever good at stuff like that. Though Yang especially was easily frustrated, turned angry more easily than sad but all her anger didn't help in a situation like this. She could shout, stomp her foot on the ground, heck set something on fire and it wouldn't change the position they were in. To be powerless and see the people around her suffer, was Yang' biggest nightmare.

"but please, come back . Everything is going to hell and giving your best sleeping beauty impression really ain't helping much."

A few month ago she would have probably kicked herself before begging anyone for something but now she was slouched over in a hospital chair, biting down tears, pleading to an unconscious girl.

"Like, seriously, you can call me names, glare at, heck I will even let you touch my hair. Just, wake up already."

.

"_Are you awake, my princess?"_

_The little princess stirred. Trying to pry her eyes open she yawned. A surprised gasp died in her throat as she found herself still in the prince's arms. With all of the strength her scrawny arms could muster she pushed herself away from him, the cloak still tightly draped around her._

_"Careful, you wouldn't wanna fall now, do you?" The prince chuckled, his warm breath tickling the top of the girls head._

_This time the gasp escaped the princess lips. How long had she slept? There was no ice, no snow, or frost as far as her eyes reached. Instead trees towered over her, their crowns filled with a healthy green. A green only the warmest and most gentle spring could bring._

_A green the little princess had never seen._

_But most of all, in front of her, a castle reached up to the clouds. Higher than birds could fly the towers made of smooth marble tore through the sky. How long it would take to climb the steep staircases to reach the top? The little princess wondered. Was there even a top?_

_The prince set her down with a smile as she continued to stare at the building that dawned in front of her. Under her bare feet the ground was soft and moist unalike the stinging ice she was used too. The little princess liked it, even if it dirtied her almost white skin and felt a little funny between her toes._

"_Is this your castle?" she asked as they crossed the wooden bridge leading to the buildings massive portals. The wood was hard and rough but warm from the burning afternoon sun._

_The prince laughed once again. In his silvery eyes shone a bemused twinkle. Weren't his eyes blue before? The princess thought. She was sure they had been blue. Who had silver eyes anyway?_

_"But my princess, this is your castle."_

_"Huh" the princess stuttered looking back and forth from the pure marble to the prince who smiled ever so kindly. She had a castle? Why would she have a castle? Did princess have castles and not prisons? What a strange world the prince came from. Though as she kept looking at the rising towers the little princess thought it looked familiar. Like she had been here once before._

"_We are home!" The prince shouted as he shoved open the gates. The princess wondered what a home was as she followed on tiptoes. Soon the stone floor they walked on changed into a wonderful warm red carpet as they entered a big hall with giant staircases leading to the different towers. _

_Doors leading to even more halls and more rooms were swung open._

_"My princess!" quaked seven different voices all at once. Storming out of the seven doors came seven dwarves. They were defintely little dwarves as they were even tinier then the princess._  
_She scuttled behind the prince wrapping his cloak even tighter around her body._

_"Don't fear them, my princess. These are your friends."_

_"Friends?" she repeated as the word held no meaning to the princess._

_"Yes!" one of dwarven girls said. All together there were only two boys among the tiny ones. The girl who had spoken skipped down and up._

_"I am Brute!" the biggest of the dwarves started to introduce herself._

_"I am Dunce!" the one with the bright red hood said. _

"_I am Useless!" said the first boy, staring at the ground like he feared to be scolded._

_Before they could continue their introduction the princess shouted._

_"Those are not names! They are so mean!"_

_"But you gave us these!" whispered Useless. He looked timid and scared. Hiding behind of one the girls who smiled at him in good will._

_"I would never do so! I am not mean!" spoke the princess. She was upset and dug her fingernails deeply into the legs of the prince. How could she have named people she had never met!_

_"It's fine. You are the princess, after all. The princess can do what she wants." The prince dotted on her. His eyes blue yet again._

"_Then tell me your name, prince. For you have not told me yet." She hoped it wasn't Stupid._

_"I am the prince." he answered. Looking rather confused by her inquiry, as did the seven dwarves._

_"I asked your name, not your title."_

_"But I am simply the prince."_

_"Just the prince? Is charming your last name?" She stomped her feet on the ground, letting go of the princes leg. The princess was obviously irritated as they were playing for fool._

_"No," the prince laughed "that would be very silly." After a short pause he nudged her towards the seven dwarves. "Let's get you dressed, those clothes are not fit for any princess."_

_Scampering full of excitement the Dunce took her hand. The flaming hood she wore reminded the princess of the cloak of the prince. Another of the dwarven girls took the other hand._

_"I am Annoying by the way!" she cheered as they let the princess up one of the many staircases._

_"That's even worse!"_

_._

"At least she is not getting worse"

It was dire comfort. There wasn't a lot of solace in it but Yang didn't know much else. Weiss had been sleeping for the last week almost, though as long as she only kept slumbering, breathing on her own, her heart beating on her own, surviving on her own, it would be fine. It meant she would wake up. Really sore but she would open her eyes again.

Yang had been sitting at Weiss bed for more than an hour now. Soon Ruby would arrive from classes, not missing a beat before rushing to the unconscious girl's side. Yang wasn't looking forward to that. Smiling like always Ruby would chatter away as if Weiss was responding. It was unsettling. As well as sad, as Ruby probably had friendlier and longer talks with Weiss now that the girl couldn't answer.

"Oh, Yang, you're here."

On the clock, Ruby entered the hospital room. Without her cloak she looked less of a ditz and even though her usual smile was on her lips, she seemed a lot less like... Ruby. It wasn't just the cloak. It seemed like something was sucked out of her, it might have been the childlike wonder or the carefree posture. Her back was unnatural straight, her arms stiff. Yang had seen Ruby like this before. It made her guts stir painfully.

"Yeah, it's my shift." Yang noted the book her sister was clenching to her chest. "You gonna read?"

Ruby did a strange mix between a nod and a shake of her head as she sat down on her rightous place beside her sleeping partner.

"I am gonna read to her. The doctor said that it might help."

Yang bit down the words 'loads of horseshit' and watched Ruby take her coat and gently lay it down on Weiss on top of the blankets.

"You left the window open. She must be cold."

"Weiss is always cold." Yang said while her sister hurried to window to close it. "What are you gonna read to her?"

"Some of my books. I bet she will think they are silly but I don't know what she likes and..." Ruby paused. Eyes full of guilt fixed on the cover of the book she held. "I didn't wanna touch Blake's without asking. Have you heard any -"

"No" Yang said slumping down on her chair. "Nothing yet."

"You don't think she believes I.."

Again Yang interrupted "I hope she doesn't. She should know that you were out of your mind. Honest to god we were all."

"Yeah."

The smile on Ruby's face was completely gone. Left was a thin line and downcast eyes. Her shoulders hanging, breath shallow.

"Look, sis, I talked to Ozpin." Yang started. Seeing her little sister like this clawed at her. Gigantic dark paws more dangerous and more painful than of any Grimm. "We think, that you should maybe, talk to somebody...maybe we all should..."

"I am talking to you..."

Her sister was many things and sometimes stupid was one of them but this time she seemed to catch what Yang wanted to say but couldn't. And avoided it.

"Look, back when -"

"This nothing like mom. Not that you would understand." Ruby's voice stung, full of anger. It hurt. They had never talked about it and now here they were, just this time Yang couldn't run away to Signal. Like she had back then. Yang wasn't proud of it and as she grew old she had realized, never wanting to be a coward again. Being the best big sister she could be.

"Ruby." Yang tried to sooth her, using the gentlest voice she could manage. Just she didn't know what to say.

"Mom," The anger in Ruby's voice vanished for just a second. "Mom, left." Only to return, venom dripping. "Weiss was taken." Her hands balled into fists.

"Ruby, we," Yang started after letting out a deep breath. She knew this was gonna be hard but if she avoided this, like back then, Ruby would slip away. "we know that you sneak out at night."

"You do, too."

"Ruby, we" She tried again, this time with more force. "we know what you do in the forest."

"I am a huntress, there's nothing wrong with that." Ruby barely pressed the words out between her gritted teeth. Her voice low and dangerous, the growl of a watch dog looking at an intruder. Yang rarely had seen her sister so aggressive. It was bizarre, Yang was supposed to be the furious one of the sisters.

"I know you are angry..."

Ruby didn't respond.

"I understand that..."

"You don't!"

She did understand. Anger had been her companion for such a long time, familiar with guilt, blaming herself for not having been there. Yang was trying, Yang was reaching, Yang was giving her best. Fire was her element, she was passion, fickle and destructive. Her movement bold and broad. Never had she been especially good at matters that concerned careful thinking and delicate fingers but here she was trying to carefully crack open an egg without crushing it whole in her hands.

"Maybe you should spend less time here, take your mind of" She sighed in defeat. "all of this."

Yang swore she could hear the egg crumble and the sticky goo run through her hands.

"I should be here more! I am her partner!" Ruby barked, her head whipping forward as to bite. "I am already doing what you asked me. Going to class, wasting my time."

Her jaw was shaking slightly as the girl tried to keep her teeth clutched together. Restraining herself from saying anymore. Ruby's shoulder were pulled up to her ears, fists tied to her sides, nostrils wide from the heavy breaths. A dog waiting to lunge to its prey and dig it's claws deep into it. Yang barely recognized the girl as her sister. It felt like looking at a mirror, reflecting her own frustration.

"It's not like you can do much!" The blonde knew she had to be careful, she was trying to keep them together not tear the thin string connecting them. "It's not your fault, sis."

All tension left Ruby as she fell on her chair. She leaned over and with careful hands brushed loose strands of hair behind the Unconscious's ear. The tips of her fingers barely touching the delicate skin under it. Weiss didn't like to be touched, she would always complain that Ruby's hands were too rough.

"When was the last time they mover her?" Ruby asked, her eyes fixated on Weiss, caressing the tiny scraps and wounds in her mind. Every few hours they or the nurses would move the heiress, to avoid bed sores. At the same time they would slightly message the girls muscles, carefully stimulate them. Only the best for the girl, nothing more should ever tarnish her again.

"I have no idea." Yang knew defeat when she saw it. Ruby retreated, comforting herself, shutting out anything that wasn't the slumbering girl. It was an easy escape, burrowing herself in worry. She watched her sister move Weiss on her side, touching her like her precious Crescent Rose. Her fingers barely gracing the skin. It was painful to watch.

"She ain't made of glass."

Weiss Schnee wasn't fragile. She carried herself with pride, never wavering. Being treated as a little glass doll about to shatter would have been an insult to her. After all she was the heiress of Schnee and most of all she was a Huntress on her own will. A fighter who would not rest no matter what trials ahead. No Grimm would she let stand in her way and in the end it wasn't a Grimm which made her succumb.

"She doesn't like being touched." whispered Ruby as she sat down again, her eyes not leaving the frozen features of Weiss. The heiress often had worn an icy mask on her face, scowling and frowning but with every day she had spend with them it slowly melted. She still looked like someone had spit into her soup every morning, but it felt different. At least for Yang. Now there was no change, no melting, it was like time had stopped. Her wounds were healing but she made no sign of waking up. Whatever the slumbering girl was dreaming about, she didn't let it show on her face.

The silence in the room was depressing. The stale air not helping an inch. Yang felt as if someone was pushing her underwater. A heavy weight on her shoulders, making sure she could not lift her head above the black water threatening to suffocate her. What lay deep down in the dark waters she could not see. Yang shivered, down below waited nothing more than this silence that wanted to swallow her.

"Ruby, you need to stop. Sneaking out, spending every other second at her side. She wouldn't like it either."

"But she hates being alone. She gets lonely so easily." Ruby smiled. Not her usual broad smile, that made her look like the biggest tool in the box but a subtle one. Affectionate and quiet, her eyes shimmering with something Yang couldn't put a finger on. Regret and guilt were easy guesses but Yang thought as Ruby was looking at the heiress she was seeing herself in the sleeping girl. Trying to share the pain of the loneliness. And maybe, just maybe, Yang wondered, was it truly Weiss being reflected in the silver eyes and not somebody long gone.

"Ruby..." Every syllable stung like thorns in her throat as if she swallowed a whole bush of deep red roses. "Please, if you don't wanna talk to me. At least talk to somebody... "

"To who? My partner is lying here..."

"God dammit, Ruby!" Yang lunged out of her chair. Maybe there was no way but to be forceful, in the end it was the only way Yang knew to handle situations. Tiptoeing around all these eggshells didn't seem to work and she stepped on them anyway. "Snap out of it! This is doing jackshit! While you are crying over little sleeping beauty here, Blake is god knows where!"

Yang didn't stop there. Spitting out the roses tearing in her throat right in front of Ruby, the only pain left was the strain from shouting. She watched as Ruby's eyes got wide.

"You know what I think!? She ain't gonna wake up! She doesn't care! She hated you anyway." The last part barely a whisper. Yang tore her eyes from Ruby, not being able to stand the way she looked at her. Now all saw was her own trembling shadow on the floor.

"Leave. Now."

And so Yang left the girl alone, closing the door tightly shut behind her.

* * *

Here is hoping the formatting and paragraphing is better in this. This note is rather long so be warned.

**I am in dire need for a Betareader for this. I know I could just go to the Betasection and approach someone but I would prefer if someone who likes the story and wants to be involved could do the job instead of me pushing a story on someone. **

I need someone to keep me in check because I will go to wild on strange symbolism and be super clumsy with it. (cough phallic towers everywhere cough) Especially the Weiss chapter needs to be test read because it would be really bad if stuff gets misunderstood and stuff since her dedicated chapter is pure insanity. Also english still ain't my first language. I also want to hear an opinion on the place I wanna take this and stuff, so I dunno.

This story is swimming with Angst but I hope to tone it down as things get smoothed out and stuff. Though Blake and Ruby's chapter are gonna be still quite heavy. Weiss's not so much on surface level at least. I am torn between calling Ruby's chapter "Dornröschen" (Sleeping beauty but actually the literal translation is Little Thorn Rose) or "Freudian in your face"

Obviously all of this will have quite a lot of references to classic fairy tales (I try to keep it to more common known ones but can't make promises) but there is also a lot o symbolism from other sources. Actually even after I tried to down it down in Yangs section there is quite a lot of that in there too. The window, the roses, the water (in contrast to her element fire) and in the end the door etc. I am still really heavy handed with this stuff so bear with me.

On the note of fairy tales, I hope RT does not pull the Weiss and Ruby are sisters or something stunt and go "Snow White and Rose Red haha" on me. I usually wouldn't mind if they hadn't put "Mirror Mirror" and similair with Weiss clarifying that she is more based on Schneewitchen and not Schneeweißchen. Who are not the same, Snow White who is commonly used like in Disney never had a sister, she is not the same Snow White as in the sister of Rose Red. (Furthermore she more like the bitch grumpy dwarv in that story) Also Team JNPR needs to stop existing because it will always make me think of the fairy tale of the juniper tree which has beheading of a little boy and glueing it back on.

In other news October Storm Chapter 3 is the polar opposite of this and super happy and I hope I can release it soon.

Hope to see all of you around!


End file.
